Brew Review – Hopicana by Due South Brewing

There’s enough great things coming out of the state of Florida that I almost want to start 30 or so blogs. But I just don’t have that kind of time.

Every so often, however, imaginative brewers like the team at Due South Brewing come up with ways to incorporate some of the non-beer goodness around them. I tried one of those beers the last time I visited them and took a tour.

Admittedly, it’s been quite some time since I did a tour there. And since they just announced an expansion that will double their space, maybe I should wait a bit before I take another one.

But when I was on that tour, one beer I sampled was Hopicana (American IPA, 7.1% ABV), a juicy little hop bomb packed with a lot of Florida goodness that may or may not have a name vaguely similar to an orange juice brand. Or maybe not.

Anyway, Hopicana got a much bigger release than when I first sampled the beer, seeing a wide release in South Florida in their special 4-pack cans.

Hopicana by Due South Brewing

And it’s quite a good brew, especially for people interested in keeping things local.

The backbone of the beer is a rye IPA, giving the beer a slight bready quality that mixes with the much stronger and flavorful citric hop bitterness. All of that is amplified with a big, bold dose of fresh Florida oranges. All of that combines to provide a tart and juicy quality in the beer.

There’s also a nice, light sweetness coming from a healthy dose of local honey. This particular batch has honey sourced from McCoy’s Sunny South Apiaries, located close to the brewery in nearby Loxahatchee. This honey is produced in Palm Beach County, usually by placing the bees right in the orange groves.

All of this combined makes a quality, hoppy sweet beer that practically screams Sunshine State. It’s a great testament to everything going on in Florida.

Now we just need people to produce hops and malt in Florida so we can get one of those “Fresh from Florida” labels.